


you streamed your way into my heart

by BriWei



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Cyber romance, Gaming, M/M, Online Dating, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-28 05:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20420444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriWei/pseuds/BriWei
Summary: What starts as simply helping his son connect with his friends in a new way opens the door for Hank to make a connection of his own—one that will settle deep and warm next to his heart.Written for the HankCon Reverse Big Bang with art by the amazingEcchima!<3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The biggest of thanks to Ecchima for their gorgeous art and hard work, titling this fic (because titles, my weakness) and their patience with me and my antics taking so long to get something going for this. ;3; And an equally big thank you to [Ani](https://twitter.com/anifanatical) for bringing this whole big bang together like a CHAMP. <3
> 
> The first artwork you can see here at the beginning, and the second piece Ecchima created will be in chapter 3!
> 
> (Also this is... slow burn, ish? I don't know how to tag and don't know what I'm doing pff)

[ ](https://twitter.com/Ecchimas_art)

“Dad. Dad. Daaaad. _ Daaaa— _“

“Cole, for the love of god,” Hank said, trying to smother his laughter with a stern look and failing spectacularly. He gave his son a mild stink eye but his smirk persisted. “What could you possibly need so desperately, squirt?”

Cole stuck out his tongue at the nickname, but then was all business as he patted his hands on the table. “Can I get this online game to play with my friends?”

Hank blinked. _ Can’t say I was expecting that, but okay, _ he thought. 

Before he could get a word in, Cole was going on. “I need you to help set up an account and stuff since I’m only nine and you have to be thirteen, and I don’t have a credit card, but I’ll pay for it! I’ve been saving up!” And here he reached into his pocket, pulling out a half-folded wad of what Hank guessed was all one dollar bills. Allowance and chore money. 

The little guy _ had _suddenly been very keen on offering to do things around the house, the last few weeks. He’d even run next door to their older neighbor Ms. Parks to offer dragging her trash bin to the side of the road on garbage day. Hank had been proud, but also should have seen there was another reason for Cole’s sudden bout of philanthropy. Little stinker.

Cole held it out to Hank with a tiny up and down shake of his hand, wanting his dad to take it. Hank set down his fork and took it, slowly counting it out.

“The game is twenty dollars,” Cole said, suddenly fidgeting with his own fork as he bit his lip. “But Emma said… um, there are taxes? Maybe? So I got twenty-five just in case.”

“What kind of game is this exactly? It’s not one of those shoot-em-ups is it?” Hank asked warily, already imagining his son cursing up a storm to match the parody of kids in movies these days. He didn’t think Cole would go that far, but all the same…

Cole shook his head emphatically. “No-no-no, I promise! It’s called Farm Together. You can farm with your friends and stuff, grow plants, and have animals and it’s really fun dad, please!”

Hank made a show of thinking it over before looking up at Cole again. “You worked hard and earned the money, and if it’s so you can have fun with your friends I don’t see why not.”

Cole’s sudden shout of joy and hopping down from his chair to give Hank a massive hug alerted their Saint Bernard Sumo in the other room. An echoing bark sounded through the house to join the train of “thank you thank you’s” spilling out of Cole’s mouth. Hank made sure to toss in a parentally-required “homework comes first” comment as he hugged Cole with one arm and patted Sumo’s head with the other when the fluffy beast made his way into the room.

“After supper though, kiddo.”

“Uh-huh!”

An hour later found them all sitting at the family computer in the den, Hank seated at the desk with a bouncy Cole on one side and a panting and confused but happy to be there regardless Sumo on the other.

“So what’s up with the sudden interest?” Hank asked, clicking through prompts for Cole’s brand new account while his son bounced on the balls of his feet next to him. “Why this game? See someone playin’ it or something?”

Cole nodded enthusiastically. “Emma, Alice and I saw Connor play and we wanted to start too! Connor is really good and fun and we wanna play with him! Or try to, anyway. He’ll probably be too busy but we wanna try!”

“Connor?” Hank asks. “Who’s Connor?” Hank knew Cole’s close-knit friend group—Emma and Alice had been there since diapers in daycare—but Connor was a new one. Not that he’d complain about Cole making more friends.

“My friends and I watch him play all the time, dad!” Cole said, in that “keep up with the times, geez” tone kids tended to arm themselves with, as if Hank should know who this Connor is. (Maybe he should, if his son knew him…) Other than Cole’s snark no more details were given, so Hank just assumed it was another kid from school. Other than that and the handful of activities Cole participated in, it’s not like he’d probably met the kid anywhere else, right?

Within the hour everything was set up and the game was installing. Before the loading bar filled the rest of the way Hank lazily rested his elbow on the desk, plopping his chin in his hand. “You got all your homework done for the night?”

“Yes!” Cole’s eyes were bright with excitement, and he was biting his lip as if to contain any more of it from escaping him.

“No later than nine on school nights, got it?”

“Yes!” he repeated, rocking on his heels now. Hank glanced back at the screen just as the game finished and was ready to load up.

“Okay then bud, it’s all yours.”

“Thank you Dad!” Hank got another tight hug before he was quickly replaced in the desk chair and Cole was off to the races.

Hank had to give Cole this much, he was proud of his son for not letting this game dominate his life entirely. He’d heard horror stories, kids turning into practical zombies as they sat at their computers for hours on end, but Cole made sure to dedicate set amounts of time to his other interests and activities too. The first couple of weeks were a little heavier with the game content, though. Occasionally Hank would swing into the den and watch his son play, and Cole was more than happy to tell Hank what was going on in extreme detail. 

He had to admit it did look like a lot of fun. Simple but very… relaxing. And interesting to watch as Cole dedicated himself to certain tasks and maintained his money. (Imagine that, learning good habits from a video game. Hank wasn’t going to complain.)

It didn’t take Hank long to realize it wasn’t just Cole, Emma and Alice playing this game, however. He’d quickly learned usernames and often saw them running around together on each others’ farms, but soon enough Hank was spying a vast array of other names all chatting with Cole. He liked to think he was over the overbearing and overprotective stages of parenthood now that Cole was getting older… but he would have been kidding himself.

“Uhh,” he eloquently started one day, seated next to Cole with his laptop on the desk next to him as he did some work. He’d heard Cole typing and giggling occasionally more than usual and had looked up to see yet another new name and face. “So this is getting to be a little bigger than you and your buds, squirt.”

“Is that bad?” Cole asked, sounding slightly worried. He turned to Hank and bit his lip, his expression one of ‘I know I did something wrong, oops.’ Cole idly fiddled with the mouse as he said, “I know I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but…”

“Very few exceptions to this rule, Cole,” Hank sighed, tapping his fingers on the desk as he thought.

“You could play with us if you wanted!” He sat up straighter in his seat, eyes aglow as if he’d had the best idea ever. “That way you could keep an eye out and I’d have someone else to play with!”

“Your old man wouldn’t embarrass you by playing?” Hank teased, half joking but also surprised Cole would suggest it in the first place.

Cole was nothing but enthusiastic at the idea, so here they were again as Hank got everything set up on his laptop. He was starting to wish he’d paid more attention to Cole playing and not zoning out for the finer details, because he had _ no _clue what he was doing. But the little guy was more than happy to sit with Hank as he got his bearings. They got Hank’s little character set up as close to Hank’s appearance as possible (“Big!” Cole said, moving the cursor over the toggle to make Hank’s character as tall as the game allowed while Hank snorted a laugh). Sitting down with the new farm was a different challenge, even with the tutorial to help start things, but Cole was confident if only slightly impatient.

“Connor is super good at this game, I learned a lot watching him play,” Cole said excitedly, pointing out keyboard shortcuts that Hank was trying to remember and keep in mind to make this easier on himself. Should he be taking notes?

“You mentioned Connor before, who is he exactly? A new buddy at school this year or something?” Hank asked, watching his little character go nuts plowing fields as Cole snickered next to him.

“Watch your money, dad!” he laughed. Hank blushed at being careless; darn game was already too easy to get going in. “No, I’ve never met Connor. We watch his streams!”

Hank didn’t even know what to say to that, but his look must have spoke volumes—another stranger, Cole doesn’t even know this guy, what the heck do you mean by streams—so Cole closed out of his own game and brought up another site.

“Alice found him one day so we started watching! He plays other games too but his Farm Together streams are really fun,” he explained. “He streams a lot! He started it for his job a few months ago. It’s…” Cole paused and looked at the calendar on the desktop, “Saturday, so we missed his morning stream, but I can show you an older one!”

Unsurprisingly Cole selected one of this Connor guy’s old farming game streams, and as it came up and started playing Hank was greeted to the sight of a ridiculously decked out farm (from beside him Cole bragged on the streamer’s behalf: “See, Connor is so good, he’s higher leveled and has so much cool stuff!”) and in the bottom corner was Connor himself.

Cole had the sound turned down so he could talk over what was happening and explain things, so Hank couldn’t hear what was going on, but he saw. Saw bright eyes wide with delight as they darted from the camera back to his own screen, an equally high wattage smile as he chuckled at comments or goings-on in the game, and the occasional exaggerated but still sincere gesture of shoulders or his head as he reacted to things. He was animated, energetic, and seemed genuinely happy doing what he was doing. 

Hank could absolutely understand why Cole and his friends had fun watching him.

“See, Connor isn’t bad! That’s why we wanted to play, he’s so fun! What d’you think?” Cole asked, just happy to be sharing his interests with his dad. It brought Hank out of his staring match with the screen.

Clearing his throat, Hank just lightly gripped Cole’s shoulder and shook it good-naturedly. “He seems pretty amazing, alright.”


	2. Chapter 2

Eventually they get far enough along in the teaching phase that Cole deemed Hank “good enough” to play on his own, though Hank suspected it was just impatience and Cole wanting to get back to playing, himself. He didn’t mind, he could figure things out from here… right?

The first quests dragged, and if it weren’t for Hank’s stubbornness he would have set the game aside immediately and said “fuck it” for another day. But he powered through, and as he continued to progress he found himself enjoying it more and more. The steadiness and mellow nature of the tasks was calming after a day at work slogging through case files. A different kind of monotony.

He was, however, a little pinched in the face when Cole requested carrots for supper that first night, as if knowing Hank’s harvesting plight. (He was so tired of carrots, he’d probably have some weird nightmare involving them that night.) And maybe he did—Cole has played the game, obviously. Maybe he’d skipped the tutorial, though. Hank was tempted as hell to do just that, quests and helpful hints be damned, but he also didn’t want to get caught floundering. He knew that would definitely result in him rage quitting for an indeterminate amount of time, and he found that he… didn’t want that. It was _ fun _ so far, and he didn’t want to lose that. Even when he accidentally blew all of his money on crops and trees. (“I had fifteen thousand, _ where’d it all go _?! And so fast!” Cole had teased him mercilessly when Hank had told him.)

It was weird, he decided, that a game was what helped him find this peaceful getaway during the short stints between work and Cole and sleep. Not to mention the times he and Cole played together. Time seemed to drift very easily but he didn’t feel like a moment of it was wasted. It was another way for them to bond together, and another way for him to have a calm he couldn’t find doing something else.

Maybe not so weird, then. He found he had no complaints.

One Friday night found him absolutely exhausted, though. He’d been pulled to various crime scenes, one of the busiest days he’d had in a long time. The whole week had been a messy affair, involving not only extensive sessions of combing through evidence but also a grisly scene of an entire family murdered in their own home. They’d found a lead just before Hank was sent home (much to his relief and chagrin), and the night shift was chasing it even now as Hank drug himself through the front door to a happily prancing Sumo.

He was beyond grateful to Alice’s parents being accommodating to his job and not only picking Cole up from school but offering to take him for a sleepover that night. Kara and Luther were the biggest sweethearts and had been providing last minute arrangements since Cole and Alice were tykes. Hank decided he was overdue to buy them dinner again sometime soon, or at least return the favor and give them a date night while he watched the kids.

Hank sat heavily on the back porch as he let Sumo out to do his business, unsure what to do with himself for the night now. Sumo was a good distraction, but not much for conversation. Cole was always able to pull him from dour moods and thoughts, but he wouldn’t be home until tomorrow… and Hank was already dreading spending the night alone with his thoughts.

He spied his laptop on the dining room table as they came back inside from the cold. _ I could play the game_, he thought, eager for a light-hearted way to spend the night.

As he sat himself on the couch, with Sumo curled at his feet and laptop warming his lap, he fired up the game and set to work, tending his small fields and harvesting trees. His small troupe of chickens demanded to be fed. And for a bit it was enough, the game brightly greeting him and welcoming him in like an old friend.

Eventually the weight of the day and his thoughts settled too heavily across his chest. His fingers drifted away from the keyboard as he took a shuddery breath. He had to set the laptop on the coffee table in front of him for a moment as he curled forward and just focused on breathing.

He felt foolish. His job was nothing new, the sights as gruesome as always and the work just as tedious or pressing. But today it hit him a little more sharply for some reason. _ Just one of those days_, he thought, loosely fisting a hand in his hair.

Hank allowed himself a few moments of just existing, feeling that pressure over his heart press hard and unrelenting. Sumo rubbed his head at Hank’s knee, having sat up when the man’s breathing had changed. 

It was hard, sometimes, to pull his mind back out of the spirals he went down in these times, but with a flex of his hand and a comforting pat to Sumo’s head (comforting who, he couldn’t say), he sucked in another deep breath and sat back up.

He certainly didn’t feel like playing anymore, so Hank closed out of the game and stared glumly at his screen. He needed something to distract himself still, but felt no motivation to provide that distraction himself. 

As he opened a new browser window and debated between finding a show to watch or aimless scrolling through news sites, the ‘recently visited’ section of the new tab held his past browsing. Mostly it was his work email, a video streaming service or two and some random article, but there was also the gaming site, and right next to it, the page for Connor’s streaming channel.

Hank blinked lazily and pursed his lips, staring at the little purple icon before sighing and clicking it. Connor had had an energy to him that seemed like it could cut through even the most oppressive of funks, so it couldn’t hurt to try and watch. And it looked like he was live right now, anyway.

“Meant to be,” Hank joked to himself, settling in and patting the couch next to him for Sumo to jump up and join him.

**//**

It was a slow day for the stream, not too chatty, but that didn’t bother Connor too much considering it was exam season. Most of his audience were younger folks or college kids, so he wasn’t surprised that it was rather quiet. He remembered those days—no way would he discourage them from focusing on their studies! He’d even switched out one of his banners and info panels with a little good luck message.

It made these streams very relaxed and chill though. And as he neared the end of his scheduled time for the day, he couldn’t say he disliked it. The more active and crazy days where chat was flying a mile a minute and it felt like he was juggling reading comments and pressing forward in whatever game he was playing were _ fun_, it kept his mind active and he always had a good time. But sometimes these more relaxed sessions were a welcome reprieve.

And Farm Together was always a favorite for a day he just wanted to slow down and take it easy.

He was just wrapping up with checking in and feeding animals when, after a bit of silence from his audience that he mostly filled with talking to chickens for fun, a new message popped up in the chat.

**HAnders85**: My son loves this game. And your streams

By the time Connor caught it and felt a grin spread over his face, another message came in.

**HAnders85**: This is the first time I watched but it was really relaxing. You make this game look really fun

Connor laughed and glanced at the camera. “Aw, I’m glad! Thank you for telling me that Handers, it’s always nice to hear that I’m reaching people out there.” Turning back to the game he asked, “Have you played before? It’s definitely become my de-stress game, I enjoy it quite a bit.”

Out of the corner of his eye Connor saw the viewer numbers dropping steadily—he had his schedule posted and most tended to drop off by the end anyway, and he wondered if his new viewer had just stopped in briefly or if they were one of the few left.

He got his answer a minute later when Handers sent another message.

**HAnders85**: I did start playing. I’m not too good at games so it’s been a little difficult to learn, but my son helped me a bit and now I’m just kind of messing around. I do really like it though, it’s been very relaxing

“Oh good! I…” Connor paused as his alarm quietly chimed to let him know it was time to wrap up, and he huffed. “Oh shoot, it’s that late already?” he said, reaching over to his phone to silence it. The viewer count was still going down, but Connor was always sure to say goodbye before he signed off. “Looks like it’s time to run guys!” He finished up with his farewell, and bid goodbye to the couple that said as much in the chat, including his new viewer Handers.

**HAnders85**: Thanks again for a great stream. I’ll have to catch another one, try and pick up some tips about the game

“Oh you should!” Connor enthused, grinning. “It’ll be nice to have a new face pop in again, and I’m happy to help out new folks to the game.” He said a final goodbye before shutting things down, sitting back and stretching languidly in his chair.

It had been a while since he’d had someone come out and say they had a good time watching him stream. Most of his regulars had their in-jokes and conversations going that warmed his heart, but the giddy feeling of someone new letting him know they enjoyed what he did was nice. Doubly so to know that they were someone looking to play one of his favorite games.

Connor bit his lip and tapped his fingers against his desk, debating for a moment on the impulsiveness of what he was thinking of doing before deciding. “Screw it, why not?” he said to himself, navigating to Handers’ user profile on the streaming site and typing up a quick private message.

It had been a while since he’d taken some free time to play for fun off stream, let alone helping someone out in the game. It sounded like a good time, and he hoped Handers was up for the idea. And if not, what did he have to lose by asking?

_ “Hi there Handers, this is Connor! Thank you again for stopping by my stream, it was nice to have you there and always nice to know that folks are enjoying what I do. I know this is out of the blue since you only watched the one time, but if you’re interested in learning more about the game I’d be happy to help and play with you! Since it’s the weekend I’m streaming in the mornings, but if you have time tomorrow afternoon/evening or on Sunday it would be my pleasure. :)” _


	3. Chapter 3

Hank groaned and rubbed his face with his hands, dragging them down until his watery eyes were a bit more exposed to the open air. He can’t believe he’d done that. What a ridiculously impulsive thing to do. First time watching this random streamer his kid liked and he got all wibbly about it? Yeesh.

“My son loves this game,” he said, pitching his voice mockingly. “What the fuck, Hank.”

He’d only meant to make an anonymous comment and then call it a day, but apparently you couldn’t _ do that _ on this platform. He’d thought about it for at least five minutes before giving in and making an account. And then had made that stupid comment. And then felt the need to add _ more _. That had been his self determined cut-off. Let the guy know he was doing a good job and sit back in the shadows again.

Then Connor had glanced over and saw it. And smiled. And _ responded _ . And while they hadn’t chatted a _ lot _ exactly, it was more than Hank was expecting. Hell, he’d been expecting nothing. Definitely hadn’t expected how soothing Connor’s voice and mannerisms were. His soft rasp and gentle laughs had had a shockingly quick effect on him, and then having that directed at him _ specifically _…

No wonder he’d let his guard down and sent a message in the chat.

Despite how little of it there was, though, between the acknowledgement and the stream itself it was… really nice. He still felt a little out of sorts from the week, but now it was a dull ache at the back of his mind versus the oppressive weight from before. He could breathe easier again.

A tiny smile started to stretch across his face as his browser chimed at him.

He blinked, trying to find the source of the noise when he spied the little speech bubble icon in the bottom corner lit up with a number next to it. Those were messages, right? Probably some generic thing again, he’d already gotten a welcome from the site for making an account.

He clicked on it anyway—he always hated having notification signifiers cluttering things up, even when he sometimes had no motivation to go through them. As he saw who it was from and read it, though, he felt the knee-jerk urge to fling his laptop across the living room. 

Instead he jolted roughly enough to jostle Sumo, who huffed at him before settling his big head half in Hank’s lap and partially on his computer. _ What the fuck _, he thought, staring wide-eyed at his screen. Either this Connor guy was having a laugh at his expense or he was way too nice, damn. Who just offered up something like that to a stranger?

Hank bit the inside of his cheek, and huffed a breath out of his nose in thought. Maybe he was just thinking about it too hard. It was a game, they’d just be playing a game. It’s like… meeting up with someone to watch a game at the bar—wait, no, not a good comparison. 

Hank sighed and let his head roll back to rest on the back of the couch. He had a day off tomorrow anyway, barring an emergency, and who knew when Cole would get back home from his sleepover. What else was he going to do with his day? Laundry, maybe, but that wouldn’t take long, he could have that done before Connor was done streaming for the day…

“Okay, it’s just a game,” Hank psyched himself up and gently nudged Sumo’s head aside so he could type out his response.

_ “Hey Connor, that’s real generous of you to offer. I actually have a day off tomorrow, so if you’re sure you don’t mind that would be great. I’m not real familiar with how this stuff works though so if you don’t mind walking me through it I’ll do what I can to help get things set up.” _

Hank waffled a moment before finally hitting send, and just to get his mind off of it for a moment he stood and decided it was time to get ready for bed anyway. He patted his thigh and called to Sumo to take him out one more time for the night, and then went about his business to get cleaned up.

By the time he was changed into sleep clothes, teeth brushed and face washed, Connor had responded to him.

_ “Not a problem! What’s your username on steam, I’ll add you on there and then we can find each other in the search tomorrow to meet up in the game. :) Oh and what time works for you? I usually get done streaming around noon EST (assuming you’re in the US)! I’m glad you said yes!” _

He was glad Hank had agreed. God he was going to combust, this guy. Unable to stop a small grin from splitting his face, Hank sent his username and a time to Connor with an added, _ “Thanks for offering to do this, by the way. I’m sure you’re really busy or at least needing a break from stuff like this, so it’s real kind of you to offer.” _

_ “Not at all Handers, I’m happy to. I’ll see you at 1 pm tomorrow! Have a good night!” _

A quick “you too” and Hank shut his laptop, sagging back into the couch with a loud and gusty sigh. From his dog bed in the corner Sumo echoed him.

“Holy shit, that should _ not _have been as exhausting as it was,” Hank said, absolutely ready for bed at this point.

** **

**//**

** **

Hank woke up the next morning to a text from Kara, asking if they could keep Cole until supper. They were planning to hit up the Science Center after lunch and wanted to bring Cole along. He was all too happy to agree, glad that his son had a fun day planned. Being better on the phone rather than messaging, Hank gave her a quick call to settle any details.

“Let me know what I owe you for food and admission or anything Kara, seriously. I owe you guys big time.”

“Hank you’re _ fine _,” Kara laughed. She said something to Luther in the background before continuing, “Really, you know we love Cole to bits and are happy to have him along. I know it was a crazy week for you, too; hopefully you can take some time today to relax, since you didn’t really sleep in.”

“I’ve got something in mind for later,” he admitted, scuffing his heel on the tile of the kitchen floor as he went about making something to eat. “Should keep me out of trouble, I think.”

“Oh thank goodness,” she teased, “because you’re such a troublemaker.”

“Hardy-har,” Hank grumbled, smiling despite himself. “I’ll catch you guys later then, just hit me up when you’re on your way. Give Cole a hug for me.”

They said their goodbyes and Hank went about his day. Mostly to pass the time, but also to keep his mind off of his plans for later. It really was silly for him to be nervous about playing a video game with another grown-ass man… but this also wasn’t his usual form of socializing.

So he spent his morning with a meal, taking Sumo for a walk to settle him and get him (both of them, really, who was he kidding) out of the house for a while, and tackling that laundry he’d told himself he would do. 

He felt accomplished and perfectly relaxed until he sat down at the desk in the den with his laptop, ready to go, at 12:57.

Hank could feel the prickling of nerves along the back of his neck, the heat of embarrassment in his face, no matter how much he mentally berated himself for being nervous about this. _ Dumb, dumb, dumb _, he chided himself, logging in and seeing a friend request from ‘C0nn0r’ waiting there for him.

Steeling himself, he accepted the request and hopped into the game, and it was only a couple minutes until he saw Connor’s freckle-faced farmer character appearing on his little farm.

**C0nn0r:** Hi there Handers! Or should I say Hank? ;)

Hank startled a moment, wondering how the hell Connor knew his name, but then remembered that his character name was his own in the game. He snorted at himself. God damn he needed to calm down.

**Hank:** Hey there yourself. And Hank is fine

**C0nn0r:** Then Hank it is! Your character is GREAT by the way. Did you base him on yourself?

Hank felt his face heat up even more. Jesus this kid was gonna turn him permanently red. He confirmed that he had indeed based the character on himself (“my kid was adamant I make him tall since I’m. Well.”) and Connor laughed. Or the text equivalent of it anyway. But Hank could imagine it.

“Thanks for helping me,” he added, feeling the need to make sure Connor knew he appreciated his time and help.

**C0nn0r:** No problem! I like helping out smaller farms when I have some free time :)

[ ](https://twitter.com/Ecchimas_art)

Hank counted his blessings for happening across someone so patient and generous. This Connor really was too nice for his own good, surely.

**Hank:** Well it’s still great of you. I appreciate it  
**Hank:** Cause I’m clueless

Connor sent an “lol ;)” before his little character did a quick run around. The farm Hank had chosen was just the simple and basic flat one, and in the short time he’d been playing he’d moved everything closer together so he wouldn’t have to run around as far. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but it was close and, he thought, efficient enough.

**C0nn0r:** Hm. Well your focus seems to be quick things, like lettuce and carrots.

Hank scrunched up his nose at the thought. Damn carrots. But Connor wasn’t wrong.

**C0nn0r:** Which isn’t bad! But because of their cost they’re not super time and money efficient, you know? I can help you harvest these and then we can get you some pumpkins planted I think since it’s summer now. In-game anyway, lol. They cost more and take a lot of time, but turn over 400 so it’s way more profit. We can get a few rows of those and then do some quicker crops in the meantime too! Sound good?

**Hank:** Sounds perfect and makes way more sense than what I was doing, thank you!

So they quickly set to work, Connor harvesting and re-plowing the field while Hank went along behind and started to plant things. In the process the weather in game turned and started to rain, and as Hank was about to go back and water crops Connor stopped him.

**C0nn0r:** Have you had it rain for you yet? It’s not just a neat environmental thing, it keeps your crops watered too!

**Hank:** No shit, I hadn’t seen it yet so I had no idea, that’s great

**C0nn0r:** Oh for sure, it can be tedious running around watering constantly. The tractor helps with that too :)

Hank hadn’t even known the tractor could do more than just plow fields. Jesus he didn’t know what he was doing, and he said as much. Connor laughed again and waved him off, saying it was no big deal. “That’s half the fun of this, learning and picking up new skills as you go!” he replied.

Hank felt nothing but light as they wrapped up, harvesting a couple trees as they came up and feeding his small collection of chickens. He wasn’t sure what to do or say at this point, so he settled for another awkward but sincere thank you.

**C0nn0r:** I promise it’s no problem at all, this is fun for me! And hopefully you too! Once you get the hang of things it goes super smooth and quick 

There was a pause, and Hank was about to ask if Connor needed to get going when suddenly another chat message came through.

**C0nn0r:** I know you saw my farm from the stream, but I have a second one that’s just for my off time and friends, did you want to check it out? 

Hank glanced down at Sumo lying on the floor next to him, and the big lug seemed content to keep holding down the fort, but he figured a quick pee break for the both of them couldn’t hurt.

As he started to peck out his reply another message came from Connor. Curse his slow typing.

**C0nn0r:** Unless you need to get going! I don’t want to keep you from anything. I know you have your son and all!

Hank hurried to add on to his chat he’d already started, saying, “Sure, I’d love to see what your other farm looks like, just need to step away quick to let the dog run around since he’s been cooped up. And sorry, I’m a slow typer. My son is actually away with a friend today so it’s all good.”

Connor’s little character did one of those “emote” things, looked like a cheer. Hank snorted at that and the accompanying message.

**C0nn0r:** Oh of course, and sounds good! You can meet me over there when you get back. And no worries on the typing, lol. Also you have a dog! You HAVE to tell me about him when you get back, please. I love dogs.

Feeling the growing and now familiar grin on his face yet again, Hank tapped out a “will do” before rousing Sumo.

When he got back and made it to Connor’s farm, he barely had time to send a hello before Connor was (clearly eagerly) jumping in.

**C0nn0r:** I don’t know if you’d feel comfortable with this and if not feel free to say no, of course, but since you mentioned typing not being a strong suit… would you rather voice chat instead?  
**C0nn0r:** that’s usually easier for me too, honestly. Makes it easier to play and talk, you know?  
**C0nn0r: **Just a thought, figured I’d throw it out there :)

The idea was both delightful and terrifying. Because hell yes he’d be much more comfortable talking than typing (no one could misconstrue what the hell you were _ saying _that way), but the idea of one-on-one chatting with this guy was… 

Hank huffed. “S’like talkin’ on the phone, right?” he asked aloud, glancing down at Sumo who was much more awake and, if Hank didn’t know better, seemed to be paying attention to what was going on.

**Hank:** Sure. What do I need to do?

Hank had never made so many different accounts in so few days in his _ life _. But Connor assured him this site made gaming and chatting together extremely easy and painless. And thankfully he had a cheap headset with a mic on it.

“Testing, testing,” came Connor’s chuckling voice as they finished setting things up. Hank had to stop himself from making a noise, now that Connor could hear him. Jesus. “We can walk around in game while we talk, if you want?” He cleared his throat as his character started to move, and Hank followed suit. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be up for voice chat. I do this stuff all the time, but…”

“I’m uh, not too terribly shy,” Hank joked, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt that tingle along his spine again. Man he needed to calm the hell down, this was becoming a bad habit.

He stopped himself from saying more when he heard Connor’s soft “oh” from the other side. “What is it?”

“I guess I should have assumed from the way your character looks, since you said it looked like you, but. Your voice, I wasn’t… I don’t know what I was expecting,” he laughed lightly. 

“Yeah, I kinda have that growly old man thing going,” Hank said.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing!” Connor countered. “And you don’t sound old, come on.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, kid.”

Connor huffed indignantly in his ear. “Hank, I won’t ask you to tell me your age, but I’m nowhere close to being a kid.” Before Hank could even ask, himself, or give him more shit about it, Connor seemed to know where this was going. “I’m thirty-two.”

“I call foul!” Hank sputtered, shaking with a laugh. “There’s no way you’re older than mid-twenties.”

“I get that a lot,” he groaned. “I still get carded occasionally.”

From there they started little bits of harvesting and farm maintenance to kill time, and Hank watched the methodical nature of it in both their characters as his level rose from the experience. He wasn’t going to know what to do with himself after all this. Plow through the game more efficiently while still enjoying himself, he hoped. 

Connor had a _ lot _ more space to work with, extensions that Hank wasn’t even close to unlocking yet and so many crazy plants and animals he was a little overwhelmed. (“Is that a peacock?” Hank asked incredulously, quickly followed by “Is that a damn _ unicorn _? What the hell…” as Connor near-guffawed in his ear at the reactions.) 

The streamer was, however, very good at talking and distracting him, and he pulled Hank into conversation while also occasionally answering questions and pointing things out. No way would Hank remember it all in one go, but it was still that relaxing feeling he’d been going for (and found in Connor’s stream) last night. It was mostly game talk, but they managed to slip in some personal small talk. 

Hank told Connor about how Cole had showed him the game after finding it thanks to Connor, which got what sounded like a teary “aww.” And he told him about Sumo, of course, and had the fluffy brute wuff into the mic for Connor to hear. That got an even more emotional reaction. “What a big sweet boy! Give him so many head pats for me,” he’d enthused.

And Connor shared how he’d recently started streaming for a living, having left his office job when this started to take off more and he felt stifled at work. “It wasn’t… fulfilling.” He talked about how he was currently rooming alone but his brother would visit frequently, and how he wished he could have a dog of his own but the apartment they lived in didn’t allow pets.

“Well, they do,” he corrected. “Nines, my brother, used to live in the same building and he has a cat. Feisty little thing. But just cats here, no dogs.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment, just working along companionably, before Hank commented, “Damn you really dedicate a lot to this game. Uh, not in a bad way, just. This is nice. Lots of neat stuff I never would’ve guessed was in this and real organized.”

With another laugh Connor thanked him. “It’s my relaxing game! My stream farm has a lot more viewer touches to it. Like, you know, putting things in people want to see. But this is just for me.” Hank could hear the smile in his voice as he added, “I’m glad I reached out to you and that you can see it. It’s been a while since I played with someone. I missed this.”

“Hey, thank _ you _,” Hank said, eyes wide. “I still can’t believe you offered to some random guy that dropped in to your stream. I feel like you’re too trusting.”

“Please,” Connor scoffed. “‘Too trusting,’ like it’s so scary to play a game online with someone.”

“Maybe that’s just the dad in me talking,” Hank admitted. “Paranoia, stranger danger, you get the idea.”

“Hm, no that makes sense.” Hank heard tapping from the other end, like Connor was drumming his nails on the desk. It was a quiet moment before he finally said, “Really though, I’m glad you agreed to play today. This has been nice.”

“Yeah,” Hank said, stumbling a little over his words. He’d been in a groove, but now that it was getting a little sentimental he felt awkward all over again. “I wasn’t expecting to… enjoy this so much. Thank you.” He pushed as much sincerity as he could into his words. “I uh. I really needed this, so it means a lot.”

He didn’t mention he needed it in a more personal sense than just help with the game, but… the feeling was still there.

“Any time Hank, I truly mean that. I’d love to play with you again when you have some time,” Connor said happily, before a quiet ‘uh’ followed. “If you’d want to, I mean. Now that you’re getting the ropes of this you don’t really need someone else to—”

“No, no, I’d love that!” Hank was quick to cut him off. He coughed, covering his eyes with one hand as he felt a blush forming. Thank god this was voice chat and not in person. “I uh, I mean. This really has been fun. The game, talking, all of it. So if you wanted to, then for sure.”

“Yes! I don’t know what your schedule is like, but… I’ll message you? See when you’re free? What would be the best way to contact you?”

“Uh…” here Hank paused, because at this point he had so many accounts this was possible on that it didn’t matter too much. He said as much, and Connor chuckled.

“Well then, I’ll—” Suddenly Hank’s phone was vibrating loudly against the desk, startling him so badly a loud “Jesus!” slipped out of him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, god, sorry, just my phone.” Hank sighed, clasping a hand to his chest as his other grabbed the phone. Text from Kara, they were on their way. Wait. “Damn it’s that late already?” he said, replying to the text as Connor let out a soft exclamation. 

“Oh wow, yeah,” Connor agreed. Must have checked the time too. “Need to get going?”

“My kid’s on his way home, yep.” Hank idly rubbed his thumb on the side of his phone case, catching his lip slightly between the gap in his teeth before saying. “Thanks again for today Connor. Sorry to just play and run, but…”

“No of course, I can’t begrudge you that! I hope you two have a great rest of the night. I’ll hit you up tomorrow? See when you’re free?”

“That’d be great,” and Hank didn’t even try to stop the smile on his face. “Have a good one Connor, thanks again.”

“You too Hank. I’ll talk to you later. Oh! Give Sumo another pet for me.”

With a laugh Hank did, quietly directing the dog to 'speak' so Connor could hear him. The delighted laugh and last “bye Hank!” warmed more than just his face. 

His heart stuttered, and after he closed out of the game his rested his cheek on the cool surface of the desk, hand still resting on Sumo’s head.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to also [hit me up on twitter](https://twitter.com/BriWeiCreative) where I rt a lot and gush about these two being mushy together and then some.


End file.
